


(Lies, Damned Lies, And) Statistics

by Topaz_Eyes



Category: House M.D.
Genre: Ficlet, M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 14:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7761268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Topaz_Eyes/pseuds/Topaz_Eyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wilson’s expiration date came and went.</p>
            </blockquote>





	(Lies, Damned Lies, And) Statistics

**Author's Note:**

> Post-series. Scene from a probably never-to-be-finished WIP. Letting this fly. Many thanks to my circle/f-list for encouragement and first reading!

Five months passed. Wilson's expiration date came and went, but Wilson was still there, as healthy as House had ever known him. Well, except for the cancer bit.

At six months, they spent Thanksgiving in front of the TV. House cheered on the Patriots and Wilson the Jets. House won the $300 bet.

At seven months, they celebrated Christmas on an outcrop of empty beach near Playa del Rey, saluting the holiday with martinis.

A week later, they burned firecrackers on that same beach for New Year's Eve.

The next morning — New Year's Day — House's mouth was fuzzy with his hangover, but his mind was clear as he punched Wilson's arm.

"You idiot," he said.

"Hunh?" Wilson raised his head, but it fell right back onto the pillow. He had become a lightweight in the alcohol department.

"Five months. You meant mean survival, not median survival."

Wilson's brow furrowed. "I don't remember," he said.

Any statistician would say that with a perfect data set, the mean and median would be exactly the same. The beauty of the median though, was that the tail on the right side of the midpoint value could theoretically extend forever.

House had never believed in miracles. He didn't believe in fairy tales, either: "They all lived happily ever after" ignored too many things, like disease and death. But when the first anniversary of Wilson's diagnosis passed, House couldn't help but think they could have used those season tickets he'd flushed down the toilet after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired in part by [The Median Isn't The Message](http://cancerguide.org/median_not_msg.html) by Stephen Jay Gould.


End file.
